Teen injured in ‘car surfing’ accident in South Roxana

Published 12:00 am, Wednesday, July 2, 2014

SOUTH ROXANA — A “car surfing” accident near South Roxana Elementary School Tuesday left a teen with serious injuries.

South Roxana Police Chief Bob Coles said the department responded to School Street near the elementary school at around 1:20 p.m. Tuesday. Coles said a male teenager was injured when he fell off a vehicle while car surfing, an act that involves riding on the outside of a moving vehicle. Coles said a friend of the teen was driving the car when the accident occurred, and two more individuals were involved in the incident as well.

“Basically, the two kids were friends, and the one kid was what they call ‘car surfing,’ and when he jumped off the car they made a corner turn,” Coles said. “He fell down and landed, bounced and hit his head. That’s what caused the injuries. It was kids being kids, but it was just a dumb decision on both kids’ parts.”

The teen was airlifted to a St. Louis hospital — Coles said he believed he taken to Saint Louis University Hospital — by ARCH Air Medical Services, Inc., helicopter. The condition of the teenager was unknown as of press time.

A Telegraph reporter said some Roxana School District employees responded to the scene in an attempt to help, despite the accident not taking place on school property.

Coles said the police department was still looking into the incident and hadn’t decided whether or not charges would be filed.

Nathan Grimm may be reached at 618-208-6451 or on Twitter @GrimmTelegraph.